To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? That is the question.

Good information, @athenalee I'm post-transplant at Mass General and they too sent out some info and invited us to have a vaccination there. I was already registered here in NH but I decided to go to MGH and cancel my appointment here. Some states have run out of the vaccine and had to delay giving the second dose. I figured that would be less apt to happen at Mass General. I am due for my second shot on February 14th.

They are now following me with extra lab work. I had to go today, again next week, then one more time out of sync with my regular labs. Then I will return to my regular every other month schedule. It's a bit of a nuisance but I really like their diligence so I'm not unhappy about that.
JK

@silverwoman Your experience is very similar to mine. I too have heard that the second shot causes a bigger reaction. My daughter-in-law is a nurse and had hers a while ago. The day after she was out of sorts, but the next day she was fine so hopefully that's typical, just one day. I had labs today, shot was a week ago, so I don't have the results yet.

@rosemarya As I'm sure you have seen I did have my first shot. If I had chosen to get it here in NH it would have been on this coming Friday. Massachusetts has been a mess though. My sister was frantic trying to get an appointment and then she finally found a contact and was able to get an appointment this week in the middle of a downtrodden city. Maybe they are not getting many takers so have open appointments.
JK

I’m glad you got vaccinated! I get mine next week. I see my doctor that day as well, so will see about additional labs. Let us know if your labs seem to be affected.

@jerrynord, I don't think anyone can give you a 100% accurate answer at this point. However, COVID antibody testing provides ongoing information to provide evidence-based guidelines. The mutations and variants are certainly challenging to keep up with. Have you had an antibody test?

The information that @athenalee provided from her Transplant Center at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center confirms the information shared in the Mayo Clinic video.

It states:
"What lasts longer, immunity after getting COVID-19 or vaccination?
The protection someone gains from having an infection (called “natural immunity”) varies depending on
the disease, and it varies from person to person. Because this virus is new, we don’t know how long
natural immunity might last. Current evidence suggests that getting the virus again (reinfection) is
uncommon in the 90 days after the first infection with the virus that causes COVID-19.
We won’t know how long immunity lasts after vaccination until we have more data on how well
COVID-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions. However, the level of protection provided by the
vaccines (94%) is one of the highest levels of protection obtainable in a vaccine. Experts are working to
learn more about both natural immunity and vaccine-induced immunity. CDC will keep the public
informed as new evidence becomes available."

Getting an anti-body test tomorrow. I heard that vaccines are only 30-40 % for transplanted people.

@jerrynord, I also read that our protection will be less than for the general population. AS more data is gathered over time, we should get a better idea of how much protection the vaccine offers. This also means that we, transplant recipients, will HAVE to remember to adhere to safe practices - Mask. Hands, Distance - as we have practiced since our transplants.

My girlfriend is going to get an antibody test tomorrow., too. She is curious about the level because she had COVID in April. And she won't be eligible to get her vaccine until the 1C group is vaccinated. Do you have a particular interest in learning your anti-body level?

Right on. Thankyou.

@jerrynord- Good morning. Can you let us know where you heard this claim of only a 30-40 percent effectiveness for transplanted people?

Good morning everyone - I think that what we need to keep in mind is that these vaccines are not the be-all or end-all vaccines for this virus. They most likely will be tweaked several times, or maybe a new kind of vaccine against COVID-19 and its variants will be discovered. But! But! This is what we have now and to me as a lung cancer survivor, it's a fine beginning!

Dr. Fauci explained why it's important, imperative to get vaccinated.:

"Vaccines can protect against serious diseases, including hospitalization and death," Fauci said. "They could also keep variants from becoming more dominant."

"Viruses cannot mutate if they don't replicate. And if you stop their replication by vaccinating widely and not giving the virus an open playing field to continue to respond to the pressures that you put on it, you will not get mutations," Fauci said.

"You need to get vaccinated when it becomes available as quickly and as expeditiously as possible throughout the country."

Experts remain concerned about the spread of the variants. "Right now we are in an absolute race against time with these variants, with trying to get people vaccinated before they spread too much across our country," said emergency physician Dr. Megan Ranney, director of the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health in Rhode Island. "It means that just going to the grocery store, to school, or to work could become more dangerous. We have an already overtaxed and exhausted health care system."

Presently there are three variants in the US. We do need to stop them and getting vaccinated will help stop it. Being tested for immunity is a great idea, but will the test include the variants? And will your immune system be able to fight it all?

@merpreb- Merry, I don't have the link in front of me, but I believe it has been mentioned by the CDC, Transplant articles, and even by Dr Poland that elderly will have lowered response, as will immunosuppressed patients. 30%-40%-45% vs 90%-94% for general population are numbers that i seem to recall.
More important than numbers is that my transplant team says to get the vaccine even if the protection is lower that general population.
Hope this is helpful.